Knife attack in Austria was an Islamist terrorist attack

The knife attack in the Austrian city of Villach, in the state of Carinthia, which left one person dead and several others injured, was carried out by an Islamist attacker, according to investigators. "This is an Islamist attack with links to ISIS," said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner over the weekend, speaking to journalists in the city. The so-called Islamic State (IS, ISIS) is a jihadist militant group that operates as a terrorist organization. At its peak, ISIS controlled large parts of Iraq and Syria as a de facto state. Even today, the group still controls small areas in parts of Asia and Africa.

Last Saturday, a 23-year-old asylum seeker with a residence permit in Austria went on a random stabbing spree in the city center, targeting passersby. He killed a 14-year-old boy and injured five others. Three of the victims are receiving intensive medical care, one of whom suffered stab wounds to the back. The attacker used a folding knife with a 10 cm (4-inch) blade as his weapon.

The attack was eventually stopped by 42-year-old Syrian food delivery worker Allaaeddin Alhalabi. He was working for the delivery service Foodora and was on his way to pick up an order when he noticed the man wielding a knife at an intersection near Ledergasse. He immediately knew what to do. "At that moment, I didn’t think—I just drove straight at him to stop him," the 42-year-old recounted. "Suddenly, several people started hitting my car. They probably thought I was trying to carry out an attack. I locked the car and called the police." The man with the knife was arrested shortly afterward. "Based on current information, the intervention of the 42-year-old contributed to the attacker being apprehended so quickly," said police spokesman Rainer Dionisio. Allaaeddin Alhalabi reflected on the incident: "I was thinking a lot about my children. The boy lying on the ground also had parents—a father and a mother. That was very hard for me."

When asked how he feels about the fact that the attacker was also from Syria, he responded: "Of course, I now worry that people will think badly of us. But we are not like him. He is just one out of thousands of Syrians in Austria. I really hope people see that we are simply here to live in peace with our children and families."

Politicians reacted with shock to the attack. "We need a rigorous crackdown in the asylum system and cannot continue importing conditions like those in Villach," declared FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl. The right-wing populist called the incident a "first-class system failure" and once again advocated for his restrictive migration policies. Christian Stocker, leader of the ruling ÖVP, demanded that "all political means must be used to ensure that such horrific crimes can be prevented in the future."